Hyde Park, Sandringham Gardens, gates

These decorative gates are part of Sandringham Gardens in  Hyde Park North. Sandringham Gardens were developed to commemorate the intended visit of King George VI in 1952, which was cancelled due to his sudden death. In 1953, it was decided to dedicate the gardens as a joint memorial to the late King George V and the late King George VI. The memorial gates were unlocked on 5 February 1954 by the late King George VI's daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

Sydney Harbour, Botanic Gardens, wall

These birds were happy to pose for a photo on the sea wall that protects the Royal Botanic Gardens from Sydney Harbour, otherwise known as Port Jackson. The birds are Masked Lapwings or Spur-winged Plovers, which are native to Australia.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, wall

The retaining walls at Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove are made up of rubble and recycled material encased in a wire frame, from the buildings on this former oil refinery site. If you look closely, you can see that this wall features engraved padlocks. The padlocks are locked by romantics to preserve their everlasting love, with the key thrown into Sydney Harbour. The tradition seems to have originated in Italy, where couples attached padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence and threw the keys into the river. The Sydney city skyline can be seen in the distance, across the harbour.

Botanic Gardens, Woolloomooloo Gate, fountain

A pair of these simple fountains sit outside the Woolloomooloo Gate of the Royal Botanic Gardens, along Mrs Macquaries Drive. The gate was originally built in 1873 as the main southern entrance to The Domain. It was moved during the construction of the Cahill Expressway to its present position and became known as the Woolloomooloo Gate because it overlooks the suburb of Woolloomooloo.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park, artefacts

Ballast Point Park at Birchgrove is located on the site of a former oil refinery. Artefacts from the demolished buildings and those discovered during redevelopmen of the site are displayed in the centre of the park in these marble and glass display cases.
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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

Ballast Point Park in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove is configured in terraced sections leading down to Sydney Harbour which each provide scenic views including this one of the Sydney city skyline.

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Chippendale, Local Memory

A temporary public art project called "Artists In Residence" occupies the heritage brewery buildings during redevelopment of the Central Park site, in the inner city suburb of Chippendale. "Local Memory" by Brook Andrew comprises of a series of portraits of people who worked in or were associated with the brewery's history between 1909 and 1998. The 18 portraits are almost 3 metres high each and fit neatly into the exposed grid of floors and walls on the northern exterior wall of the old Irving Street Brewery building. Each portrait is illuminated by a neon frame which flahes on and off in a series of programmed sequences. I missed out on photographing this artwork the previous week due to poor light but unfortunately when I returned last week workmen had just erected a billboard advertising beer. One workman can be seen here climbing down a rope, securing power cable conduits to the wall.

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Museum railway station, Mark Foy's subway

This tiled wall of the pedestrian subway to Museum Railway station is located directly inside the station entrance that I featured yesterday. Mark Foy's is the name of the department store which was once located in building located above. This building was known as 'The Piazza' but is now known as the Downing Centre, which is used as a court house complex. The name has been retained for this subway and thankfully so has this beautiful tilework.
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Botanic Gardens, Queen Elizabeth II Memorial

The Queen Elizabeth II Memorial is a sandstone wall in the Royal Botanic Gardens which was built to commemorate the location where Queen Elizabeth II first set foot on Australian soil in 1954. It was erected by the governments of the Commonwealth of Australia and the state of New South Wales. I suppose it shows how much the queen and the royal family were held in high regard in those days. It stands beside the Fleet Steps which were constructed in 1908 to welcome the Great White Fleet, American Navy's cruise around the world as a diplomatic mission of peace.

Redfern, Strawberry Hills, post office

This Strawberry Hills business centre post office is located on the ground floor of the Australia Post state headquarters, in the inner city suburb of Redfern. The wall-mounted post office boxes are located outside, running along the walls of two passageways on either side of this unit. The architectural style and colour of the unit is typical of the 1980s, which is when the Prince Alfred Park Building was built. A sign of these times is the number of vacant post office boxes flagged by the red and white advertisment signs indicating which ones are available to rent.

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Botanic Gardens, Farm Cove

This bench in the Royal Botanic Gardens provides a good view of Farm Cove on Sydney Harbour. The seawall surrounding it is constructed of large sandstone blocks. It is bordered by a pedestrian walkway that runs from the Sydney Opera House through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the Domain parklands and Mrs Macquarie's Chair. Before the Europeans arrived, Farm Cove was called Woccanmagully by the Aboriginal people and the area was an important ceremonial site. After Europeans arrived in 1788, it became the site of the colony’s first farm, although not very successful because the soil in the Farm Cove area proved to be infertile.

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Birchgrove, Ballast Point Park

This rockery is part of Ballast Point Park, in the inner west suburb of Birchgrove, which looks out towards Goat Island and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The name Ballast Point is derived from the early days of the colony when ships arrived from England with a full load but returned empty. To control buoyancy, stability and speed, sandstone was cut from this point to fill the ships as ballast.

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Darlinghurst, Camp Stonewall

Camp Stonewall is an art installation at Taylor Square, off Oxford Street, in the inner city suburb of Darlinghurst. The artwork is part of the Taylor Square Plinth Project, which has had three temporary art projects installed from 2009 to 2011 to enliven the square and make people think about art. Camp Stonewall, by Annie Kennedy, celebrates the achievements of the gay rights movement and people who campaigned for change. The name refers to the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, where the gay riots on  28th June, 1969 sparked an international response, including protests in Sydney’s Oxford Street. The lamp post on the plinth in the staircase of a disused underground gentlemen's convenience, reinterprets the original post from the early 1900s, which carried street signage and illuminated the square. The tiles on the wall feature messages and stories written by the contemporary gay and lesbian community of Sydney. This artwork is on the route of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is on tonight.

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Darling Harbour, fountain

This fountain has been incorporated into the wall of Sydney Wildlife World at Darling Harbour.

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Australian National Maritime Museum

The Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour, viewed from the boardwalk beside Pyrmont Bay. The Australian National Maritime Museum was designed by Phillip Cox and opened in 1991. The museum houses exhibitions that explore Australia's links with the sea and how maritime activities and issues have shaped the lives of people in Australia. The Pyrmont Bay ferry wharf, the museum's Welcome Wall and the Cape Bowling Green Lighthouse can be seen from here.

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De Mestre Place, Warriors

Warriors by Jan van der Ploeg is displayed on a large billboard on the northern wall of De Mestre Place, off George Street. Maybe not one of the most exciting artworks shown in 'Are You Looking At Me? Laneway Art' during the Art and About Sydney festival, but it did make the concrete wall look a lot more interesting than usual. The graphic black and white patterns also worked well with the all the lines reflected in the windows above.

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Bridge Lane, Rush

Bridge Lane features a couple of artworks from 'Are You Looking At Me? Laneway Art' which is part of Art and About Sydney festival.'Rush' by Nike Savvas, features thousands of multi-coloured strands that create a ceiling in the lane and blow in the wind. At the end of the laneway, the other artwork is actually located in Tank Stream Way. 'For Rent' by Rocket Mattler represents a house from a time when things were less complex. It also includes a sign, a bit further away, that reads 'Room for Rent. Apply Opposite'. I managed to catch a wedding party just as they were departing in their vintage cars. This laneway, with or without the artwork, was an interesting spot for their wedding photos.

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Underwood Street, Woodwork

Underwood Street is a laneway behind Dalley telephone exchange. Underwood is also the name of a famous brand of typewriter manufactured in the early 20th century. Paste Ups are a form of street art, where images on paper are cut out and pasted onto a wall.Woodwork by Simon Yates features photocopies of old fashioned typewriters and old fashioned dial telephones with a similar shape. It contains messages hidden in the keyboards of the typewriters and number dials of the phones. This ia another exhibit in Are You Looking At Me? Laneway Art' which is part of the Art and About Sydney festival. You can also the remnants of some graffiti in the last shot which is a reminder that this was the location of the Grasshopper Bar, which operated here during last year's festval.

Newtown, street art (Theme Day: Graffiti)

I ventured to the inner city suburb of Newtown for some attractive graffiti to feature on this theme day. This artwork appears on the side of a furniture shop on the corner of King Street and Rochford Street. Newtown is a very colourful inner city suburb where many students, bohemians, hippies and yuppies make their home. It's also a very multicultural suburb but I'm not sure why they have specifically chosen to depict Latino characters here. Anyway, my best attempt for translations of these Spanish messages across this wall are "What's Happening!", "Newtown...My Neighbourhood" and "He's Crazy!".
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Darling Harbour, Welcome Wall

The Welcome Wall, a memorial which honours immigrants to Australia, is located outside the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour. The Welcome Wall is a 100 metre long bronze wall, inscribed with names of immigrants, their arrival dates and the place they came from. It is located near Pyrmont docks, where millions of new settlers first stepped ashore in Australia. Over the years, more than six million people have crossed the world to settle in Australia.

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